Local SEO beyond the browser
Are you making the most of offline advertising to complement your local SEO efforts? Columnist Marcus Miller explains the benefits of connecting your digital and physical marketing.
Topic: Small business
Meet A Landy Award Winner: Go Fish Digital Drives 60% Traffic Jump For Reston Limo To Win Best Small Business SEO Initiative
Wanting to improve its search rankings, Reston Limo turned to Go Fish Digital to gain a more competitive online presence in the DC-market.
Meet A Landy Award Winner: How SearchMarketers.com Won Overall Small Business SEM Initiative For Its Surf Air Campaign
Granular targeting and key technology integrations helped increase memberships for the agency's client Surf Air.
SMB Mobile Websites Saw 11 Percent Page View Gain After Mobile-Friendly Update
There has been discussion and debate about whether and how much websites were affected by Google’s Mobile-Friendly algorithm update. I wrote last week about a study that argued non-mobile-friendly sites were disappearing from the top positions in mobile search results. Now comes a study of small business websites that shows meaningful traffic gains for mobile-friendly […]
The 16 Secrets Of Guerrilla Local SEO
Some people get so focused on rankings that they forget what great SEO is all about: marketing. Through applying the principles of guerrilla marketing, columnist Marcus Miller shows how great marketing makes for great local SEO.
Mobile-Friendly Isn’t Enough For Local Businesses: 3 Pitfalls To Avoid, From A Recent #LocalU Hangout
In the age of "Mobilegeddon," local search and analytics experts give insights on the growing importance of mobile search and mobile site design. Columnist Will Scott recaps.
SearchCap: Bing Images & Places, Yahoo Testing & Google Mobile Lite
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing Places Adds Several Agency-Friendly Local Business Listing Tools Agency dashboard offers local listing management, sharing with clients, features for chain businesses and more. Is Yahoo Testing Non-Bing Powered Search Results? […]
Google Launches Major Push To Get Local Businesses Online, Improve Data
New site offers tools, content and solicits business owners to update information.
Simple Math To Show Potential Clients Why Local SEO Is Important
Local businesses sometimes have trouble understanding how they'd benefit from SEO. Columnist Greg Gifford shows how you can boil it down to the basics.
Google Releases Video Series On Taking Your Local Business Online
Google’s Maile Ohye, a well-known personality in the SEO space, has published six-videos adding up to about 30 minutes, containing advice on bringing your local business online. Maile said this is the same advice that Googlers would give “our friends and family” and now they are sharing it with everyone. In the first video, the […]
Industry Survey: 37% Of Local SEOs Saw Less Than $30,000 In Revenue Turnover Since Last Year
According to an industry survey by local search firm BrightLocal, a majority of local SEOs experienced less than $30,000 in revenue turnover during the last twelve months, with the average revenue-per-client ranging from $500 to $1,000 for the largest percentage of survey respondents. BrightLocal polled more than 1,700 SEOs, with 31 percent of the survey […]
Google Launches Free AdWords Express App For iOS And Android Devices In The US
Today, Google launched a free app for Android and iOS devices for AdWords Express, the simplified version of Google’s search advertising platform designed for small business. The app has all the features of the web version, allowing advertisers to edit ads and set targeting parameters more easily from their mobile devices. Google is also making […]
Google Working On A Softer & Gentler Panda Algorithm To Help Small Businesses
Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, announced at Search Marketing Expo that his search team is working the “next generation” Panda update that would appear to many as being softer. Cutts explained that this new Panda update should have a direct impact on helping small businesses do better. One Googler on his team is […]
Is Bing A Better Buy Than Google AdWords For Small Business?
Data released yesterday by small business (SMB) marketing platform Pricing Engine argues, as a number of others have in the past, that Bing ads are a “more efficient” buy than Google AdWords. While Google has more search volume and higher CTRs, Bing emerges as a lower cost source of leads for SMBs according to the company’s […]
Bing Ads Launches Its Own “Express” Program For Local Small Businesses
This week, Bing Ads unveiled Bing Ads Express, a pay-per-click program for small local businesses that is clearly modeled on Google’s AdWords Express program. Businesses can launch a single ad campaign tied to their Bing business listing and geo-target the ad to show in their locality. There is a monthly minimum spend requirement of $50. […]
Live @ SMX East: Must-Have Local Search Tactics
Do you run a small business? Or do you provide search marketing services for companies who serve predominantly local customers? Then you know so-called “local search” is a unique beast in its own right, requiring different approaches for organic optimization, paid search and social media marketing efforts. At SMX East, you’ll get some great street-savvy […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 9, 2013
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: 50 Percent Of Companies Struggling With SEO Aren’t Integrating Social Media [Survey] What’s one key difference between companies that are successful with SEO and those that aren’t? According to a new […]
New Google Maps UI Calls For Shifts In SEO Tactics
Last week at the Google I/O developer conference, a newly redesigned Google Maps design was introduced. While a number of online commentators have virtually gushed about the new interfacing from an end user perspective, there may be a less-than-rosy view for many local businesses. Thus far, the new version of Google Maps is pretty much […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 4, 2013
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: SMX West Starts Next Monday in San Jose; Register by March 10 and Save The clock is ticking! Search Engine Land’s – SMX West begins next Monday in San Jose, CA. […]
Survey: Half Of Small Businesses Never Update Their Listings Online
ConstantContact’s SinglePlatform division has released the results of a new survey of small businesses (SMBs). The “headline” finding is that nearly half (49 percent) say they’ve never updated their listings online. The survey polled “more than 350” SMBs. Most small businesses are overwhelmed and confused by even basic online marketing. This is reflected in some […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 30, 2013
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Bing On Super Bowl 47: San Francisco 49ers Twice As Many Searches Than Baltimore Ravens If search has any influence or say in who will win the Super Bowl this Sunday, […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 20, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google’s Policing Of Duplicate Ad Sitelinks Extensions Misses Apparent Violator — Itself AdWords advertisers know that Google has plenty of policies by which you must abide, like Ad Sitelinks extensions can’t […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 27, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Seeking Maps Fix, Apple Fires Mapping Team Manager And Asks Outsiders For Help According to a widely cited Bloomberg report published earlier today Apple has fired another executive in connection with […]
5 Areas That Demonstrate The Growing Potential Of Local Search
As those of you who read my column know, I believe strongly in the potential of an integrated, multi-platform approach to local search, and the importance of educating small businesses about the various advertising opportunities available to them. Small businesses today often struggle with the idea that local advertising can no longer be executed using […]
Google Adds Call Reporting To AdWords Express
Google is making its call tracking solution called “Call Reporting” available in AdWords Express, its simplified search marketing solution directed toward small businesses. For now this is US only and each completed call over 30 seconds costs $1. It’s simple and works like other call tracking programs. Google replaces the phone number in the ad […]
Google Partners To Offer AdWords-Specific Credit Card
At a time when small businesses may have trouble getting access to credit, Google is partnering with banks in the U.S. and U.K. to offer credit cards that can only be used to buy AdWords advertising. The company has been piloting the AdWords Business Credit program since July in the U.S. and says 1400 small […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 23, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing Webmaster Tools Reports Adds Percentage Changes Bing has added percent changes, deltas, to some of the various reports within Bing Webmaster Tools. The percent changes show the difference from the […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 14, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing-hoo Search Down 4 Percent In Past Year, Hitwise Says June and July haven’t been very kind months for Bing and Yahoo. What Hitwise calls “Bing-powered search” had about 28.1 percent […]
Google Acquires KikScore Technology And Assets To Complement Trusted Stores
In an effort to expand the kind of information available to online shoppers via its Trusted Stores program, Google has acquired the technology and certain assets of KikScore, a trust seal company serving mostly small businesses. The cost of the intellectual property acquisition wasn’t disclosed. According to a post on KikScore’s site, the standalone service […]
WSJ: Google Prepares “Business Builder” For Small Business Marketers
The Wall Street Journal reported this weekend that Google is planning to combine a number of its products (internally developed and acquired) into a suite of tools and services aimed at small business marketers: Google plans to have its newest small-business service—which at one point it was calling Business Builder—up and running as early as […]
Microsoft Advertising Begins Aggressively Courting Small Businesses For Search
Microsoft Advertising has begun reaching out to a handful of search engine marketing (SEM) experts and small business customers, hoping to pair them up in the first part of an initiative to educate SMBs about adCenter and learn about their needs and challenges. “It’s an initiative to see how we can better support our small […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 13, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google’s SPYW, Kenya Imbroglios An “Ink Blot” Test For Google As Good Or Evil? I woke up this morning to discover some fairly outrageous allegations against Google in Kenya. Local search/directory […]
SMX East 2011: Extreme Makeover, The SEO Edition
Extreme Makeover, The SEO Edition Presentations from SMX East – NYC, NY, September 2011 Is it really possible to take a site from nowhere to top rankings in 3 months? That’s the challenge we issued to each intrepid speaker on this panel, who volunteered to work on a small business or charity website, each in […]
Judge Throws Out Class Action Lawsuit Against Yelp
Yelp is off the hook, again. A judge has thrown out a class action lawsuit filed against Yelp that alleged the company tried to extort small businesses by promising to remove negative reviews in exchange for money. As we reported when the suit was first filed in February 2010, the plaintiffs — which included a […]
Bing Expands Local Business Portal: Group Deals, Virtual Punchcards & New Print Collateral
Google may have most of the local traffic, but Bing’s local business tools are running laps around Google’s. When it launched in April, the Bing Business Portal already had outdone Google with several important features. Now, a new set of tools that Bing added within the past couple weeks puts it even further ahead of […]
All Sales & No Service: Google’s Small Business Priorities Are All Messed Up
Google is, again, wiping the egg off of its company face this week after the New York Times exposed yet another way in which some users are manipulating Google Places to the detriment of unsuspecting small/local business owners. The latest issue involves unscrupulous individuals/companies marking other businesses as closed in Google Places. It’s a process […]
Google Customer Support Surprise: Phone Reps Handling 10,000 Calls A Week From 60 Countries
Google has long received mixed-to-negative criticism for its customer service — or lack thereof. But Francoise Brougher is changing all that. Perhaps the least well-known senior executive outside Google, the VP of Global Advertising and Product Operations has quietly built an impressive telephone customer support organization for Google AdWords advertisers. Telephone support for AdWords was first […]
Google Adds 100+ Domains, Signals Plans For National Small Biz Push
Google appears to be readying plans to roll out its “Get Your Business Online” program across the U.S. That’s based on Mike Blumenthal’s discovery that Google has recently added more than 100 domains to its portfolio, with URLs such as coloradogetonline.com, dakotagetonline.com, getoregononline.com, getpennsylvaniaonline.com, newyorkgetonline.com, northcarolinagetonline.com, ohiogetonline.com, etc. Get Your Business Online is Google’s outreach […]
Report: Only 15% of Small Business Facebook Fans Are Actually Local
A new study released today by Roost, a technology company that helps companies with social media, determined that: “…only 15 percent of the average local business’ fans are actually in the city where the business is located.” This data was uncovered using proprietary scorecards that analyzes audience distributions and other SMB business metrics. The report […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 20, 2011
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Labs To Be Closed As Larry Page’s Product Streamlining Continues Is there any doubt that things at Google have changed under new CEO Larry Page? Today the company has announced […]